The Platform
by OliviaOwl13
Summary: Hi, guys. This is my third post, but this time it's a little different. I've decided to put a Harry Potter story out there. Blurb "Albus could feel his palms sweating as he pushed his trolley ahead of him, preparing to enter Platform 9 3/4." Here's the story of how Albus Potter, Harry's son, settled into Hogwarts, and how he got out from his older brother's shadow.


**The Platform - A Younger Generation**

Albus could feel his palms sweating as he pushed his trolley ahead of him, his older brother James laughing loudly and running ahead, the trolley running along quickly in front. His younger sister Lily was sitting on one of the suitcases on James' trolley, laughing as he tickled her in the back of the neck with the soft, downey feathers of a new quill. He could feel his dad's eyes boring into the back of his neck often, obviously wondering why Albus was lagging behind his siblings; he was normally cheerful, not quiet and nervous.

Every so often his mum would pull his dad away to point at something and reminisce, which was great for Albus, because he got to have five minutes without someone staring at him like he had done something wrong.

They'd reached the platform. The huge plastic signs on either side of the brick wall read **Platform 9 **and **Platform 10**. Suddenly, his mouth felt dry as James prepared himself to run through the wall. He bent down under the pretense of tying up his shoelace, and he felt someone else bend down next to him.

"Feeling nervous?" his dad asked him, gently. Albus nodded, feeling nauseous. "Believe it or not," his dad whispered. "I felt the exact same way you do now, except perhaps worse, because I didn't have a support team like you have." Albus looked at him, confused. Support team? What support team?

Harry seemed to notice his confusion. "Your mum and I love all of you equally," he began seriously, staring into Albus' eyes. "And we'll support all three of you in whatever you want to do. So when you go through to Platform 9 3/4, we'll be right behind you. All the way." Albus nodded, suddenly feeling better.

They stood up, dusted off their hands and he walked the last few steps, with his trolley, a few feet away from the wall. Harry put a hand on his back. "Together," he said, and before he knew what was happening, it was all over and they were through.

The train station was bustling with wizards and witches seeing their children off to Hogwarts. Not far away was Scorpio, Draco and Pansy Malfoy, while the twins Bradley and Bailey were being sent off by Parvati and her husband. Cats were running askew, and one little witch was running past them, crying out, "Yuli, _no_! Come back here!" Owls were screeching, making everyone within earshot deaf. Children too eager to wait to get to school to try spells were making puffs of greenish fog come out of their wands and the entire time, the train was pouring out with white smoke.

The smoke cleared a tiny bit and Albus saw the group ahead of them. "Rose!" he called, happily, just as Lily squealed, "Hugo!" They ran ahead, James not that far behind them. Rose was the same age as Albus, James two years older. "Aren't you happy to be going to Hogwarts?" she asked, her eyes shining. "We'll have so much to learn! I mean, there are so many spells to do, exams to take, O.W.L's eventually, and I already learnt how to Transfigure stuff into buttons from Mum!" She glanced back, grinning, at Hermione. Her mum smiled down at her, while her dad watched Hugo and Lily chatting a few feet away.

Rose could be a bit bossy, he knew that, but she was awesome, anyway. James raised his eyebrows. "Wow, Rose," he laughed. "You'd think that you were going to just study away time at school! You need to calm down. O.W.L's aren't going to be for a few years yet." That was easy for him to say, thought Albus enviously, _he's _only got one year till he has to take his.

The train's whistle tooted, and smoke came pouring out. Harry glanced at the clock; he and Ron had been talking for the past ten minutes. "It's two minutes to eleven," he said, warningly. "We'd better hurry or you'll miss the train." They heaved their trunks and owl cages on to the baggage cart, and boarded the train. The whistle tooted again and they were off.

Albus' arm was sore by the time he stopped waving to his parents and Lily. He settled back in the train, and thought about the Sorting. Just like that, a lump of nerves settled in his stomach and remained there until they arrived.


End file.
